Roasted Brussels Sprouts - a bit too 'al dente'

Made roasted brussels sprouts with bacon and shallots for Christmas. Everyone said they were good -- except -- a bit too crunchy or underdone. Since this was my very first attempt at cooking sprouts, I really had no idea on how to test for doneness. Any advice fellow hounds?

I roasted Brussels sprouts for Christmas dinner, as well. I let them get very dark brown, so they're very caramelized on the outside. By then, the insides are always very tender. I let them go so long, in fact, that my sister actually wandered into the kitchen and said it smelled like something was burning, but they weren't, just getting crispy and sweet.

I've burned with balsamic before and now I toss in a dressing/balsamic toward or at the end of cooking.Just leaving the sprouts in for a minute too long and the outer leaves can burn and become bitter.

They need to go for quite a while to get really sweet, and I cut them in half first. The balsamic idea is a good one as well. If they are still crunchy they are likely still a bit bitter. It's a battle between al dente and sweet, and I usually vote for sweet.

You need to make sure all the sulfur compounds are cooked out.

You could blanch them first, then toss in oil and seasoning, then roast for about 25 minutes or more at a fairly high temp, but there's no substitute for tasting them periodically once you can smell them getting all roasty in the oven.

Don't skimp on the oil and you might also consider dusting a bit of sugar on them before roasting to help with browning.

What I do, instead of getting another pot dirty, I just cover them tightly with foil first on the roasting/sheet pan, before roasting, so they steam for about 10 minutes first. Then take the foil off, and let the moisture cook off and they roast perfectly from there. I also do this with cauliflower & squash.

I have a different opinion here. I think fully roasted ones taste much better, richer, sweeter and so are worth a few extra minutes. Halved they take less than a half hour, sometimes only 20 minutes ( though I do them whole for about 40 minutes.)

Agreed. Unless they are tiny I cut in half and roast at high heat, starting with cut side down and then tossing about 10-15 minutes in. Roasted have such a depth of flavor. I feel like you lose something by steaming/sautéing/microwaving first.

i tend to cut them in half, lay them out on foil/parchment, then cover loosely with another piece of foil. i cook them for 15-20 minutes, so that they steam and soften through. then i remove the foil, and cook til they're browned and caramelized to my liking. generally another 10-15 minutes.